The contribution of Mahendra Singh Dhoni to the Indian team and the success Virat Kohli, as captain is well known. The skipper has immense respect for the inputs given by Dhoni, and he has never undermined the value-addition made by the wicketkeeper.
Saturday witnessed one such occasion when Kohli made his admiration for Dhoni known, loud and clear, during the pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday's India-South Africa T20 series-opener here.
Asked about his throwback tweet (in context to India’s successful run-chase against Australia in the 2016 World T20 match
in Mohali) that sparked off speculation of Dhoni’s retirement from international cricket, Kohli came up with this response: “I was sitting at home and I, normally, put out a photograph and it became a news item. I think it was a lesson for me, that the way I think, the whole world doesn’t think that way. There was nothing in farthest stretch of my imagination (to hint Dhoni’s retirement) while putting that pic out on social media. Like what did I write.
“I remember that game even now..., every now and then. I never spoke about that game and so I thought I put up a post. Now people interpreted it in a different manner in which there wasn’t even an iota of truth," Kohli said.
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“There are a numerous number of times people have given up on sportsmen and they have proved people wrong. He (Dhoni) has done that many times in his career as well. So, one great thing about him is that he thinks for Indian cricket. And whatever we think, he is on the same page. The alignment is there. The kind of mindset he has, to groom youngsters and give them opportunities, and he is still the same person.
“When you decide to stop playing is an absolutely individual thing, and no one else should have an opinion on it. That’s what I think. As long as he is available and continues to play, he is going to be very, very valuable,” he added.
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